CCC girls basketball leader Golden Valley grinds out win over Pitman

Barring a collapse in the next few weeks, the Golden Valley High School girls basketball team seems to have a stranglehold on a second consecutive Central California Conference championship.

The Cougars extended their lead to two games by grinding out a 45-32 win over Pitman on the road Tuesday night.

On a night when its offense struggled, Golden Valley extended its overall winning streak to nine games and its conference winning streak to 16 with its defense. The Cougars (19-4, 6-0 CCC) held Pitman to 14-of-45 shooting (31 percent).

“Our halfcourt defense is in a really good place right now,” Golden Valley coach Matt Thissen said. “I don’t want to jinx it.”

“They really are good on defense,” said Pride coach Dustin Curtiss, whose team dropped to 13-6 and 4-2. “We had some open shots that we missed. I don’t want to know what our shooting percentage was tonight because it wasn’t good. Credit for that goes to their defense.”

Both defenses dominated an offensively challenged first half that saw Golden Valley take a 16-10 lead into intermission. It didn’t help that both leading scorers – Stephanie Moore for the Cougars and Kaylin Randhawa for the Pride – picked up two fouls in the first quarter and spent a long stretch of the first half on the bench.

Moore opened the second half with two three-pointers to extend the Cougars’ lead to 22-12 and finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and four steals. But this game was much different than Golden Valley’s 64-36 blowout win over Pitman on Jan. 7.

Pitman answered with two quick baskets as it took advantage of Golden Valley turnovers. Olivia Salafia drained a three-pointer and Randhawa scored to pull the Pride within 22-17.

However, every time Pitman made a run, the Cougars had an answer. Golden Valley closed the third quarter with a 9-2 run to take a 31-19 lead. Delia Moore ended the quarter with a three-pointer and assisted on a basket by Abbee Croninger. Delia Moore finished with eight points as she continues to work back from offseason knee surgery.

“We extended Delia’s minutes tonight, and I thought she had one of her better games of the season,” Thissen said. “She brings a calming presence when she’s on the floor, and she allows Steph to play her natural position.”

The Pride made another run early in the fourth quarter to cut the Cougars’ lead to 33-27 with 5:47 remaining. Cerah Moren (14 points) got out in transition and scored on two layups during the run.

“When we got it close the next time, I look up and Golden Valley would make it a nine- or 10-point game again,” Curtiss said. “That’s what good teams do. Every time we got it close, they countered with a run of their own.”

Croninger scored six of her game-high 16 points during a quick 8-2 run by the Cougars that extended the lead to 41-29 with 1:44 left. Croninger scored 10 points in the second half.

“In the second half, we felt we had to be more urgent,” Croninger said. “We knew we had to win. We played as a team. We were faster, and we picked it up.”

The win gives Golden Valley a two-game lead with four games left.

“We can’t let up,” Croninger said. “We can’t assume anybody is going to lay down. We have to play our game. We have to play hard and consistent.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 11:34 PM with the headline "CCC girls basketball leader Golden Valley grinds out win over Pitman."